“The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The quote has been described as an Arabic proverb, but more likely it comes from advice given in India by a leader who died under mysterious circumstances.
This attitude that my enemy’s enemy is my ally has been used countless times in politics and warfare to justify the “strange bedfellows” that certain alliances have created in the pursuit of political and military goals. Of course, the ideology behind this old saying reveals an old sickness among us humans. It reveals the notion that we can identify people as enemies or friends. It also reduces our reality to merely the social or political maneuverings of our short-sighted circumstances.
But is there any spiritual benefit to this attitude and political tool?
In our Gospel Lesson today, the Lord’s disciples come to Jesus to report on their good work. They are seeking His approval for their actions. You see, they have come across a man who wasn’t part of their group casting out demons in the name of Jesus. The disciples told him to stop doing that since he wasn’t part of the company of the disciples. They were surprised at the Lord’s response!
Look how the Lord responds in our Gospel Lesson in Luke 9:49-56:
At that time, one of Jesus’ disciples came to him and said, “Master, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him; for he that is not against you is for you.” When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them as Elijah did?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
So, the Lord turns this old saying on its head to teach the disciples a valuable lesson in both humility and the extent of God’s grace given to the whole world.
The disciples are encouraged to break the small mentality of “our group” in favor of the more cosmic understanding of the grace of God given to all who sincerely seek to know God. What a powerful lesson for us today to overcome the temptation to “cliques” and our own spiritual ghettos that do little more than shrink our vision of God and our love for others. Jesus applies loving wisdom to the natural tendency in the disciples, and all of us, to forget just how loving, giving, and humble our God really is. He is so gracious that anyone who seeks to embrace Him, He embraces.
And that means whomever He embraces should never be slandered as an enemy. God’s grace is always bigger than our vision! God’s kindness and His love are always bigger than the shallow “differences” that exist between us humans. God knows us by name, and not by our race or education or our desires. WE name ourselves these labels that make it easy to reduce the people we see and don’t see to too small “identities” that actually tell a lie about people. Those labels we use, even for ourselves, are filled with the danger of dismissing someone, and ourselves, and then making them “the enemy.”
Now be careful here! Seeing God’s amazing grace, we are also challenged to understand that God’s mercy and grace are possible in the world because He has a Church in the world. Far from this cosmic truth suggesting that there is some sort of “universalism” at work here where it is irrelevant what you believe as long as you have nice thoughts and kind actions, the very reason there is grace in the world that works throughout the world is that Jesus is still Present in His world through His Church. Anyone who gives you a cup of water in Christ’s name will not lose his reward because Christ is still in His world through His Church! Extend the same grace and love to others as God has extended to you! That TRANSFORMATIVE journey is what Normal Orthodoxy is all about.
St. Joel, the Prophet in our Old Testament, served the Lord as a prophet of the nation of Israel. He was from the tribe of Reuben and lived around 810 BC and 750 BC. His ministry to God’s people had him insisting the people take seriously the wisdom of the Lord preserved in the Faith. He was used by God to tell the people of God to get ready for the coming of the Messiah and to expect the coming of the Holy Spirit to so change people that they would prophesy and see visions (See Joel 2:28) and this passage was quoted by St. Peter on the Day of Pentecost to explain how all these disciples could preach in many languages there in Jerusalem on that great day. St. Joel tells us that the coming of the Holy Spirit will so change the people who follow the Lord that they will never reject others but offer them the Good News of Jesus!
Today, instead of shrewdly maneuvering this or that person in your life to create maximum benefit for yourself, ask the Lord to release you to bring His presence to every situation in your life. Watch as His Presence draws out of others a kindness, a service, righteousness that they, themselves, may not have realized they possessed. Instead of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” let’s transform by grace our relationships, our acquaintances, and our surroundings into humble opportunities for the Presence of Jesus in His Church to transfigure even those who don’t realize they are on the Lord’s side into companions on this spiritual journey toward Him Who loves us even more than we, ourselves, know how to love. That’s when we will discover a truly Normal Orthodox Life!
P.S. Since you have seen the glory of God in the spirit, you truly did foreknow His divine dispensation; for as you said, God’s Spirit is poured forth upon all flesh that believes in Him Who appeared to the earthborn in a servant’s form and made you wondrous forever, O Joel, you seer of God.
This week is our parish Festival when thousands of people will visit our parish and we will share with them the beauties of our Orthodox Faith and invite them to learn more about Orthodoxy. Pray they will be receptive and pray for strength for our people doing our church tours! Email Fr. Barnabas at frbarnabas@faithencouraged.org
